Droves Of Tourists Are Driving To Florida

Florida tourism officials Friday reported a sharp increase in the state's visitor count during January, with much of the growth coming from those traveling by car.

The state attracted almost 3.8 million visitors in January, a 14 percent increase over January 1996, according to the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corp.

Officials with the public-private organization had no definitive explanation for the increase. They pointed to bad winter weather up north as one possible reason.

Industry executives in Orlando offer mixed accounts of this year's business trend. Some large theme parks, such as Sea World of Florida, have seen continued growth in attendance. And Central Florida hotels reported a 4 percent increase in occupancy in January, to 79 percent.

But business at some attractions is slow.

''Our spring has not been that great, to be honest,'' said Bob Windham, president of Church Street Station. ''We're down a little bit, and everybody I'm talking to is saying the same thing.''

The state visitor count showed the number of people arriving by car jumped nearly 26 percent, whereas the number flying to the state increased less than 8 percent.